Spotlight on Iran
Spotlight on Iran
Spotlight on Iran
Spotlight on Iran
“The marionette is angry”, cartoon by Nikahang Kowsar (Rooz Online, April 25)
President Ahmadinejad and his associate, Rahim Masha’i
Foreign minister Salehi
Majles approves budget for new Iranian year (1390, 2010-2011) more than a month late
Majles approves budget for new Iranian year (1390, 2010-2011) more than a month late
Majles approves budget for new Iranian year (1390, 2010-2011) more than a month late
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Highlights of the week
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Differences of opinion between Supreme Leader,
president over dismissal of intelligence minister
In recent days, media affiliated with the reformist opposition and government critics have reported a growing divide between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the removal of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi last week. The president was forced to reverse his decision to dismiss the minister due to the Supreme Leader’s objection.
The Alef website reported earlier this week that the president had refused to obey the Supreme Leader’s instructions with regard to the dismissal of the intelligence minister, did not invite Moslehi to the weekly government meeting, and did not bring him on his trip to Kurdistan Province last weekend. In addition, several news websites report that after returning from his trip to Kurdistan the president has not resumed regular work in his office in protest of the Supreme Leader’s intervention in his decision to remove the intelligence minister. According to the reports, the president has conducted almost no official activities, and the weekly government meeting on Sunday, April 24, was presided over by his first vice president, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi. The reports also sparked rumors about Ahmadinejad’s resignation.
On Monday, an Iranian journalist reported that the president had set three conditions for staying in office: appointing his controversial associate Rahim Masha’i as first vice president, removing Sa’id Jalili from his position as chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, and dismissing the intelligence minister. The report could not be verified.
In light of the numerous reports about differences of opinion in Iran’s senior leadership, earlier this week the Supreme Leader was forced to address the removal of the intelligence minister for the first time. In a speech made during a visit to Fars Province, Khamenei said he does not normally intervene in the government’s decisions or work unless national interests are disregarded, claiming this was the case when Ahmadinejad decided to dismiss the intelligence minister. The Supreme Leader criticized the way the media covered the minister’s removal, saying the coverage intensified internal tensions in society and was used by foreign media to claim that Iran has a "dual government” and that the president does not obey the Supreme Leader.
Rift between supporters of Rahim Masha’i, senior conservatives grows deeper
Senior conservatives have stepped up criticism of the president’s associate and former office chief Esfandiar Rahim Masha’i over the intelligence minister’s removal affair, claiming those affiliated with him have strayed from the values of the Islamic revolution. Elements in the conservative camp claimed last week that Masha’i was behind the president’s decision to remove Moslehi contrary to the Supreme Leader’s position.
Last weekend, Assembly of Experts chairman Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani called on the president to distance himself from the influence of those who stray from the values of the Islamic revolution and create discord in the conservative camp. Speaking at a meeting with senior conservative politicians, the cleric addressed the views held by Masha’i and his supporters and accused them of straying from the principles of the revolution.
Ultra-conservative cleric Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, formerly considered President Ahmadinejad’s spiritual teacher, once again warned about the influence of the faction represented by Masha’i. The top cleric noted that the influence of secular views that oppose clerics is evident not only among reformist opposition leaders, but also among other important figures in society.
The criticism against the activity of Masha’i and his supporters was joined by Revolutionary Guards chief Mohammad-Ali Ja’fari. In an interview to Fars News Agency, Ja’fari warned about the formation and activity of a "deviant faction” consisting of some of the president’s associates, saying that unlike deviant factions that operated in Iran since the Islamic revolution, this time the dangerous faction acts clandestinely among senior conservative camp figures who are loved and accepted by the public.
Meanwhile, Hojjat-ol-Eslam Abbas Amiri-Far, the head of the Cultural Council in the President’s Office, said that if Masha’i decides to run for presidency in the 2013 elections, his victory will be certain. He strongly criticized those members of the conservative camp who attack Masha’i, saying they do so since they are concerned over the possibility of his becoming president. According to him, there is no difference between Masha’i and President Ahmadinejad, and there’s no separating between them. Speaking about the coming Majles elections in early 2012, Amiri-Far assessed that the president’s supporters will run against the conservative camp representatives and defeat them.
Official media increasingly criticized for ignoring Syria riots
Despite the escalation of Syria’s political crisis, most media affiliated with Iran’s conservative camp, mainly official media, continue to ignore almost completely the escalating riots in that country this week.
The riots received coverage mostly on news websites and blogs affiliated with the reformist opposition, although those media affiliated with the government’s critics in the conservative camp have also provided more coverage of the political crisis in Syria.
Meanwhile, official media become increasingly criticized for their silence over the riots in Syria. In an article published on the Iranian Diplomacy website, former deputy foreign minister Seyyed Mohammad Sadr claimed that Iran Broadcasting is acting "holier than the Pope” by ignoring the riots when even Syrian media report them. According to Sadr, Iran cannot accuse the U.S. of adopting double standards with regard to world countries when its own attitude towards the Arab world is similarly biased.
The daily Roozegar also claimed that the friendship between Iran and Syria does not justify ignoring the riots in that country. While Syria is Iran’s friend, it does not mean Iran has to accept everything that happens in Syria or ignore the events taking place there. Criticism of Iran’s two-faced policy on developments in the Arab world was also made by a reformist blogger who addressed a fatwa recently issued by a Friday prayer leader in the city of Qom declaring the royal houses of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to be "infidels”. The blogger wondered whether the killing of dozens of Syrians after the Friday prayers did not justify a fatwa and a condemnation, and whether the Assad family should not be considered infidel as well.
Iranian press expresses reservations over reinstatement of Iran-Egypt relations in the midst of reports on rapprochement
Iran’s foreign minister Ali-Akbar Salehi once again announced this week that Iran is interested in improving its relations with Egypt. The minister noted that improving the relations between the countries will contribute to peace, stability, and security in the region, expressing hope that the relations between the two countries will resume soon despite the pressure exerted on Egypt to do otherwise. At the same time, it was reported that the two countries signed an agreement to increase tourism—the first agreement to increase cooperation since the fall of Mubarak’s regime.
On the backdrop of reports on the possible reinstatement of relations between the two countries, this past week several conservative media in Iran expressed reservations over that possibility at the present time.
The daily Tehran Emrouz claimed that the government of Iran must avoid unnecessary statements about renewing its relations with Egypt as long as the current conditions in Egypt are not clear. The daily warned that any rash measures by Iran that fail to take into account the changing political circumstances in Cairo may compromise its national interests and, in the long run, compromise the Iran-Egypt relations.
The daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami, which in recent weeks has brought up concerns about the magnitude of change in Egypt following the fall of President Mubarak, has expressed misgivings over the intention to expand relations with Egypt at the present time, claiming that so far there has been no actual change in that country. The daily warned that the regime in Cairo may take advantage of the renewal of relations with Tehran to persuade its domestic public opinion that it has the support of Islamic Iran, and that it may cast doubt among supporters of the Islamic movement in Egypt. Jomhuri-ye Eslami further claimed that Iran’s government has to refrain from any action that could portray it as cooperating with a regime that has yet to renounce the Camp David Accords. The daily suggested that, at this point, the Foreign Ministry settle for expanding the Interests Section in Cairo to facilitate a better understanding of the situation in Egypt and decide on the proper timing to strengthen the relations between the countries.
Meanwhile, IranPressNews, a website affiliated with exiled Iranian opposition organizations, reported that Revolutionary Guards elements had recently sent a letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei opposing the reinstatement of relations with Egypt as long as Cairo has not agreed to revoke the peace treaty with Israel. The authors of the letter also suggested taking advantage of the developments in the Arab world to relaunch the policy of "exporting the revolution”. According to the report, whose reliability has not been verified, the Supreme Leader’s office replied to the letter saying that the benefits Iran stands to gain from the reinstatement of relations with Egypt far outweigh the disadvantages, and that it would allow Iran to entrench its influence in the Arab world and on the African continent and intensify weapons smuggling activities for the Palestinians.
However, in a report published last week on the impact of the developments in the Arab world on Iran, the Majles Research Center recommended that Iran strengthen its ties with Egypt to allow Iran to enhance its regional position and ability to gather intelligence on developments on the Palestinian scene.
Differences of opinion between Supreme Leader,
president over dismissal of intelligence minister
In recent days, media affiliated with the reformist opposition and government critics have reported a growing divide between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the removal of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi last week. The president was forced to reverse his decision to dismiss the minister due to the Supreme Leader’s objection.
Alef, a website affiliated with Ahmad Tavakoli, Majles Research Center chairman and one of President Ahmadinejad’s most prominent political opponents in the conservative camp, reported earlier this week that the president had refused to obey the Supreme Leader’s instructions with regard to the dismissal of the intelligence minister, did not invite Moslehi to the weekly government meeting, and did not bring him on his trip to Kurdistan Province last weekend (Alef, April 23).
In addition, several news websites report that after returning from his trip to Kurdistan the president has not resumed regular work in his office in protest of the Supreme Leader’s intervention in his decision to remove the intelligence minister. According to the reports, the president has conducted almost no official activities, other than a meeting with a political delegation from China, and the weekly government meeting on Sunday, April 24 was presided over by his first vice president, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi. The reports also sparked rumors about Ahmadinejad’s resignation (Rooz Online, April 25).
On Monday, Amir-Hossein Sabeti, an Iranian journalist affiliated with ultra-conservative elements, reported that the president had set three conditions for staying in office: appointing his controversial associate Rahim Masha’i as first vice president, removing Sa’id Jalili from his position as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and dismissing the intelligence minister. The journalist, whose report could not be verified, estimated that the president will eventually return to his office, and that the conditions he set are designed to put him in a more advantageous position vis-à-vis the Supreme Leader (www.digarban.com, April 25).
"The marionette is angry”, cartoon by Nikahang Kowsar
(Rooz Online, April 25)
In light of the numerous reports about differences of opinion in Iran’s senior leadership, earlier this week the Supreme Leader was forced to address the removal of the intelligence minister for the first time. In a speech made during a visit to Fars Province, Khamenei said he does not normally intervene in the government’s decisions or work unless national interests are disregarded, claiming this was the case when Ahmadinejad decided to dismiss the intelligence minister. The Supreme Leader stated that, as long as he is alive, he will not allow the Iranian people’s movement towards values to stray from its path.
The Supreme Leader also criticized the way the media covered the minister’s removal, saying the coverage intensified internal tensions in society and was used by foreign media to claim that Iran has a "dual government” and that the president does not obey the Supreme Leader (Fars, April 23).
On the backdrop of the Supreme Leader’s remarks, the Digarban website (www.digarban.com) reported on April 26 that in recent days, several news websites were instructed by the Supreme Leader to remove reports published prior to that on disagreements between the Supreme Leader and the president. The authorities’ efforts to calm the situation were also evident in a report given by conservative Majles member Seyyed Ali-Mohammad Bozorgvari, according to which the Supreme Leader and the president had had a work meeting on Monday night (Asr-e Iran, April 26).
Rift between supporters of Rahim Masha’i, senior conservatives grows deeper
Senior conservatives have stepped up criticism of the president’s associate and former office chief Esfandiar Rahim Masha’i over the intelligence minister’s removal affair. Elements in the conservative camp claimed last week that Masha’i was behind the president’s decision to remove Moslehi contrary to Supreme Leader Khamenei’s position.
Last weekend, Assembly of Experts chairman Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani called on the president to distance himself from the influence of those who stray from the values of the Islamic revolution and create discord in the conservative camp. Speaking at a meeting with top conservative politicians, the senior cleric and newly appointed chairman of the Assembly of Experts said that those who claim Iranian thought should be given precedence over Islamic thought stray from the principles of the revolution, referring to Masha’i and his supporters. In a veiled reference to the ideological faction represented by Masha’i, Mahdavi-Kani also criticized those conservatives supposedly claiming that the clerics have lost their influence in society (Aftab News, April 22).
Ultra-conservative cleric Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi once again implicitly criticized Masha’i and his supporters. Speaking at a conference on Iran’s cultural policy, the senior cleric, formerly considered President Ahmadinejad’s spiritual mentor, once again warned about the influence of those ideological factions taking a hostile stance against clerics. He said that, since the revolution, some Iranian officials have come under the influence of secular and liberal factions, as well as factions that oppose clerics. It is this influence and the lack of cooperation between government bodies and clerics that have made it impossible for clerics to fulfill their proper role in shaping the cultural policy of the Islamic republic. Mesbah-Yazdi noted that the influence of secular views that oppose clerics is evident not only among reformist opposition leaders, but also among other important figures in society (RASA News, April 21).
Mesbah-Yazdi’s statement came just days after he made another implicit reference to Masha’i and his supporters, in which he warned about the increasing influence of the "Free Masons” on the government. This week, Qassem Ravanbakhsh, one of Mesbah-Yazdi most notable students, called on President Ahmadinejad to heed the conservative cleric’s warning and prevent another political crisis in Iran. According to Ravanbakhsh, the growing influence of deviant factions in the government may prove even more dangerous than that of the reformist government (1997-2005) (Jaras, April 22).
Islamic Society of Engineers chairman and former conservative Majles member Mohammad-Reza Bahonar also warned about attempts by "deviant factions” in the conservative camp to compromise it, announcing that the conservatives have already started taking the necessary measures against them. In an interview to Mehr News Agency, Bahonar said that the clerics and the conservatives are well aware of the plans concocted by the factions seeking to undermine the conservative camp’s unity, and that they will take action to expose them if necessary (Mehr, April 23).
The criticism against the activity of Masha’i and his supporters was joined by Revolutionary Guards chief Mohammad-Ali Ja’fari. In an interview to Fars News Agency, Ja’fari warned about the formation and activity of a "deviant faction” consisting of some of the president’s associates, saying that unlike deviant factions that operated in Iran since the Islamic revolution, this time the dangerous faction acts clandestinely among senior conservative camp figures who are loved and accepted by the public (Fars, April 23).
President Ahmadinejad and his associate, Rahim Masha’i
Meanwhile, Hojjat-ol-Eslam Abbas Amiri-Far, the head of the Cultural Council in the President’s Office, said that if Masha’i decides to run for presidency in the next elections (slated for 2013), his victory will be certain. In an interview to Fars News Agency, Amiri-Far said that Ahmadinejad and Masha’i are inseparable, and that Masha’i does not do or say anything without first consulting with the president. He strongly criticized those members of the conservative camp who attack Masha’i and claim that he represents a deviant faction of society. According to Amiri-Far, those who oppose Masha’i are concerned over the possibility of his becoming president. He added that those conservative elements seeking to ruin Masha’i, including Majles speaker Ali Larijani and Keyhan daily editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari, were never President Ahmadinejad’s supporters to begin with. Referring to the criticism made by senior cleric Mesbah-Yazdi against Masha’i, Amiri-Far said that while the cleric deserves respect, not all of his statements on political issues are necessarily true.
Speaking about the coming Majles elections in early 2012, Amiri-Far assessed that the president’s supporters will run against the conservative camp representatives and defeat them. Regarding the possibility of the Guardians Council disqualifying Masha’i from the presidential race, Amiri-Far said that Masha’i had done nothing to justify being disqualified. The head of the Cultural Council in the President’s Office also spoke about the Supreme Leader’s objection to the president’s decision to dismiss the intelligence minister, saying it would be worthwhile to examine whether it was an operative instruction or just a recommendation issued by Khamenei. He said that not every stance taken by the Supreme Leader must necessarily be translated into action (Fars, April 22).
Official media increasingly criticized for ignoring Syria riots
Despite the escalation of Syria’s political crisis, most media affiliated with Iran’s conservative camp, mainly official media, have continued to ignore almost completely the escalating riots in that country this week.
The riots received coverage mostly on news websites and blogs affiliated with the reformist opposition, although those media affiliated with the government’s critics in the conservative camp have also provided more coverage of the political crisis in Syria in recent days, particularly in light of last Friday’s riots, where dozens of demonstrators were killed across Syria.
Asr-e Iran, a website affiliated with the pragmatic conservative faction, provided extensive coverage of the riots earlier this week and even featured photos published by the Syrian regime’s opponents. The website also pointed out several inconsistencies between the reports released by the Syrian regime on the riots and the number of people killed, and the reports published by the Syrian opposition (Asr-e Iran, April 23). It should be mentioned that the website has recently strongly criticized Iran’s official media for almost completely ignoring the riots in Syria.
News websites affiliated with the reformist opposition also extensively reported on the violent protests in Syria. Kalemeh, a website affiliated with the supporters of reformist opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, compared the Syrian TV coverage of the riots to the Iranian media coverage of last year’s riots in Iran. The website strongly criticized IRNA, the government news agency, for reporting a supposedly "calm Friday” in Syria when even official Syrian media admitted that a number of civilians had been killed in the riots (Kalemeh, April 24).
In an article published on the Iranian Diplomacy website, former deputy foreign minister Seyyed Mohammad Sadr also criticized the coverage of the riots in Syria by the official media. Syrian TV itself reported on the riots, even if belatedly, the article says. On the other hand, Iran Broadcasting acted "holier than the Pope”. According to Sadr, ignoring important world events reflects a lack of understanding about the role of media, whose prime responsibility is providing the public with objective reports. Otherwise, it becomes a kind of propaganda. Iran cannot accuse the U.S. of adopting double standards with regard to world countries when its own attitude towards the Arab world is similarly biased. Sadr called on the Iranian government to change its policy, suggesting that, instead of censoring the demonstrations in Syria, it recommend the Damascus regime to comply with the citizens’ demands, safeguard their rights, guarantee their freedoms, and continue the implementation of political reforms (Diplomasi-ye Irani, April 24).
Criticism of Iran’s media was also voiced by the daily Roozegar. An editorial titled "Syria and Us” said that the friendship between Syria and Iran does not justify completely ignoring the events taking place in that country. There are many things happening in the world that may be not to Iran’s liking, and they should not be ignored. While Iran would do well to wait and see how events unfold in Syria before taking a stance on the developments, they cannot be ignored and left to foreign news agencies to cover. While Syria is Iran’s friend and stands at the forefront of the anti-Zionist struggle, it does not mean Iran has to accept everything that happens in Syria or ignore news it finds unpleasant (Roozegar, April 24).
A blogger affiliated with the reformist opposition criticized the regime’s policy towards the political crisis in Syria, accusing the Iranian authorities of taking a two-faced approach towards the developments in the Arab world. The blogger addressed a fatwa recently issued by Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, the Friday prayer leader in the city of Qom, in which the senior cleric declared that the royal houses of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are "infidels” because of their involvement in killing civilians in Bahrain. The blogger wondered whether the killing of dozens of Syrians after the Friday prayers by Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s ally, did not justify a fatwa and a condemnation, whether the Assad family should not be considered infidel as well, and whether Muslims around the globe should not react to the acts of Syria’s leaders (http://green13.persianblog.ir, April 23).
Iranian press expresses reservations over reinstatement of Iran-Egypt relations in the midst of reports on rapprochement
Iran’s foreign minister Ali-Akbar Salehi once again announced this week that Iran is interested in improving its relations with Egypt. Speaking at a meeting with Iranian diplomats in Tehran, the minister noted that improving the relations between the countries will contribute to peace, stability, and security in the region. He expressed hope that the relations between the two countries will resume soon despite the pressure exerted on Egypt to do otherwise (Fars, April 23). Salehi reported last week that the two countries were working on cultivating higher-level relations, expressing hope that the process, which may take a while, will reach completion as soon as possible. Salehi also invited Egypt’s foreign minister Nabil al-Arabi to visit Tehran
Foreign minister Salehi (source: www.irdiplomacy.ir)
At the same time, the chairman of the Iran-Egypt Trade Council reported that, for the first time since the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the two countries signed an agreement to increase their cooperation in tourism. Muhyaddin al-Ghandour reported that, according to the agreement signed last week between tourism companies from Egypt and Iran, 10,000 Iranians can visit Egypt each month, and 60,000 Egyptians can visit Iran. He added that the agreement will be implemented once the countries agree on higher-level relations with each other (Fars, April 21).
On the backdrop of reports on the possible reinstatement of relations between the two countries, this past week several conservative media in Iran expressed reservations over that possibility at the present time.
Tehran Emrouz, a daily affiliated with Tehran’s mayor, published an editorial claiming that unnecessary statements by top Iranian officials about renewing relations with Egypt may prove detrimental to Iran’s national interests. Diplomatic relations between countries are not like interpersonal relations, the article said, and a government cannot act as a person who is friendly and courteous towards his fellow man while ignoring pertinent issues. A government must consider national interests and differences of opinion between the sides.
Even if there is an agreement on expanding relations with Egypt, Iran must take into account the current internal political developments in Egypt. One must keep in mind that it was Egypt that imposed restrictions on the number of visitors from Iran due to objections raised by its security and intelligence services. Egypt is undergoing a transitional period, with new, hard-to-predict developments taking place every day. Considering these conditions, Iran must take into account that certain measures stemming from inadequate understanding of Egypt’s internal circumstances may compromise the relations between the two countries in the long run. The daily warned about attempts by opportunists to take advantage of Egypt’s transitional phase to improve the Iran-Egypt relations with the intention of exploiting them for their own economic interests (Tehran Emrouz, April 21).
The daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami, which in recent weeks has brought up concerns about the magnitude of change in Egypt following the fall of President Mubarak, has also expressed misgivings over the intention to expand relations with Egypt at the present time.
An editorial published by the daily earlier this week said that unlike top Iranian officials, who announced Iran’s willingness to reinstate the relations with Egypt, top Egyptian officials once again demanded that Iran change the name of Khalid al-Islambouli street in Tehran, named after President Sadat’s assassin. According to the daily, the demand shows that the remains of President Mubarak’s regime still linger despite the popular uprising in Egypt, and that, in practice, there has been no real change.
While the daily had praise for the popular uprising, it claimed that the political game played by Mubarak and his supporters, aiming to resist the demands of those behind the riots, is not over yet, and that the fruits of the revolution have yet to be reaped. There have been no developments requiring a change in Iran’s policy towards Egypt. Closer cooperation with any Islamic country, and Egypt in particular, is obviously highly significant. Iran, however, must be careful about how it chooses to attain this objective.
The daily warned that the regime in Cairo may take advantage of the renewal of relations with Tehran to persuade its domestic public opinion that it has the support of Islamic Iran, and that it may cast doubt among supporters of the Islamic movement in Egypt. Jomhuri-ye Eslami mentioned that Egypt has not renounced the Camp David Accords and even reiterated its commitment to them. Iran, therefore, must carefully avoid any action that could portray it as cooperating with the "Camp David regime” and thus undermining the aspirations at the heart of the uprisings in Egypt and the Arab world. The daily suggested that, at this point, the Foreign Ministry settle for expanding the Interests Section in Cairo to facilitate a better understanding of the situation in Egypt and decide on the proper timing to strengthen the relations between the countries (Jomhuri-ye Eslami, April 23).
The Iranian Diplomacy website also expressed reservations over the reckless conduct of Foreign Ministry officials with regard to the renewal of relations with Egypt. An article by Seyyed Ali Mousavi Khalkhali said that Egypt’s policy is still very much influenced by American pressure, that its political conditions have not stabilized yet, and that it remains to be seen how the political changes will affect its foreign policy. The author of the article argued that closer relations between the two countries may greatly benefit Iran’s national interests, adding, however, that it is not a process to be rushed. Recklessness may have the opposite result, as it may raise doubts and reservations among Egyptians and prevent them from accepting Iran’s initiatives, as already happened before (www.irdiplomacy.ir, April 23).
Meanwhile, IranPressNews, a website affiliated with exiled Iranian opposition organizations, reported that Revolutionary Guards elements had recently sent a letter to Supreme Leader Khamenei demanding to restrain the Foreign Ministry’s efforts to reinstate diplomatic relations with Egypt. The authors of the letter argued that Iran needs to take advantage of the developments in the Arab world to relaunch the policy of "exporting the revolution”. The letter states that an agreement by Iran to reinstate relations with Egypt before Cairo has agreed to revoke the peace treaty with Israel would be regarded as an admission of defeat, and may set a dangerous precedent in Iran’s relations with other Arab and Islamic countries. The authors of the letter also expressed vigorous opposition to the renaming of the Khaled al-Islambouli street in Tehran.
According to the report, the Supreme Leader’s office replied to the letter saying that the benefits Iran stands to gain from the reinstatement of relations with Egypt far outweigh the disadvantages, and that it would allow Iran to entrench its influence in the Arab world and Africa, and intensify weapons smuggling activities for the Palestinians. The report could not be verified (www.iranpressnews.com, April 23).
However, in a report published last week on the impact of the developments in the Arab world on Iran, the Majles Research Center recommended that Iran strengthen its ties with Egypt to allow Iran to enhance its regional position and ability to gather intelligence on developments on the Palestinian scene.1
Pictures of the week: Majles approves budget
for new Iranian year (1390, 2010-2011) more than a month late
1 For the full report in Persian, see: http://www.majlis.ir/mhtml/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3700
